Life Starts Now
by bb.outrageous
Summary: After two years of blissful marriage, Pan and Trunks are expecting their first child. When Pan goes into labor, Trunks is missing. Hands break and threats are thrown. Will Trunks make it in time? Part two of the 'Love is Sweet Collection'


**[author's note]**Well I'm on a roll today. Two stories in one day. I think this is record for me. This is my second DBZ fic as well as my second Trunks and Pan pairing. It can be read in union with '**Prince Charming**' seeing that I plan on writing a lot of stories based on the pairing. They will all probably connect to each other in some way. I would say this would be part two of the Pan and Trunks Collection. Unfortunately the ending wasn't as good as I had hoped for since I rushed it. I can't exactly write when people are home since my family is pretty nosy. Perhaps some time this week I will try to come back to edit it. Well with that said, I hope you enjoy this one. Remember this is only my second one so there may be errors in some areas. I'll be sure to fix them ASAP. Read and review. I'd love to hear what you have to say.

**[disclaimer]**I do not own DBZ or any of its characters. They are the property of Akira Toriyama.

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Love is Sweet Collection: Part Two

Life Starts Now

* * *

Pan sighed as she rubbed the large bulge protruding from her stomach. A small smile appeared on her face as she felt the light kick against her hand. It was already eleven o' clock at night, and the baby had yet to stop the kicking and sleep.

"You're as energetic as always, aren't you? Just like your great grandpa …" She laughed quietly, trying to keep from waking the sleeping Trunks besides her. The lavender haired man had come home later than usual do to the delayed paperwork he had to take care of. The moment he came home, he shoveled down his dinner despite being cold, and collapsed on the bed only minutes later. Pan smiled, watching the peaceful look on his face as he shifted in his sleep. It was a habit of hers to watch him sleep whenever the baby was kicking around inside her stomach. Perhaps it was also because she found it soothing to watch her husband's peaceful expressions, and listen to him talk in his sleep.

She leaned back against the pillow and lifted her left hand to look at the gold ring on her left finger. It had been twenty years since the day they first met … Five years since they became an official couple … Two years since they had been married. It seemed like only yesterday she was fourteen and bickering with the older boy over silly situations while they searched for the black star dragon balls. Now they were married, and expecting their first child soon. A smirk rose to her lips as she remembered the day they had announced her pregnancy to their friends and family.

-x-

_Everyone had gathered immeadiately at Gohan's house when they received phone calls from Pan and Trunks for them to come to Mount Pao's. They had urged the family and the Z Fighters to come as soon as possible, stating that they had something important to say. Everyone sat around and stood against the walls of Gohan's living room as they muttered amongst one another about what the important news was that couldn't have waited for another day. The moment Pan and Trunks entered the room, they all went silent, watching the two carefully._

_Pan shifted nervously from foot to foot, her hands clenched on each side. Trunks cleared his throat, his eyes drifting over each of their faces._

"_Pan … Trunks …" Gohan spoke up looking from his daughter to his son-in-law. "What's going on? What was so important that we all had to gather?"_

_Pan inhaled deeply, her eyes setting on her father's worried expression as Trunks placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "You all know that Pan and I have been married for two years now. It has been the best two years of our lives." He paused and smiled down at his wife who gave him a small grin. "It's been great being married, just the two of us, but w-"_

"_You're getting divorced, aren't you?"_

_The Z Fighters jumped at Bulma's and Chi Chi's outburst. The two women were on the brink of tears, shaking uncontrollably in their spots on the couch. All eyes shifted towards the women that were now sobbing into tissues. _

"_Trunks! How could you do this to your mother? Do you know how long I've waited for you to finally settle down with a nice girl?" Bulma bawled, rubbing at the tears roughly. Bra sat beside her, trying to calm their hysterically mother who had started chucking used tissues at people._

_Chi Chi was fuming on the opposite side, fists clenched on her lap as the people around her inched away from the potential danger. "Trunks Brief, are you telling me that my granddaughter isn't good enough for you? Is that it, young man?" she growled. She stood abruptly causing Gohan and Goten to instantly come to her side, and keep her from clawing at the Capsule Corps president. "When I get my hands on you, you're dead meat, Trunks! Did you hear me? DEAD MEAT!"_

_Trunks held up his hands in defense and quickly shook his head at their words. "No, Mother. We're not getting divorce. I can ensure that." His eyes shot nervously between the two women that looked ready to pounce at him at any second. His heart rate calmed slightly as he watched their angry expressions shift to that of a calm one … Well calmer anyways._

_Pan smiled gripping his hand tight. "Mom … Dad … Everybody …" she started, her eyes brimming with tears as she spoke. "I'm pregnant. We're going to have a baby."_

_Silence resounded off the walls as the two nervously watched as everyone stared back in obvious shock. "P-Pan is … pregnant?" Gohan managed to stutter. "M-my … baby is having a b-baby …" Videl watched as her husband's eyes rolled back inside his head, and he hit the ground with a thud. No one budged to even make an attempt to check on the father. They were all still in shock at the news. _

_Within moments the room erupted in cheers and congratulations as the couple was surrounded by their friends and family. Bulma, Chi Chi, and Videl were now crying their eyes out, consuming the two in hugs and kisses. Vegeta stood off to the side smirking at his son, only giving an approving nod when Trunks made eye contact._

_Off to the side, Krillin sighed as he rubbed the back of his head as he attempted to wake the fallen Gohan. "Jeez … Is he going to faint EVERY time Pan makes an announcement?" he grumbled, patting his cheeks roughly. "Boy, he can stand up in the face of monsters like Cell and Buu, but when his little girl announces she's having a kid, BAM! Out cold."_

-x-

It all seemed to real to be true to Pan. Before, she had believed that it would be impossible to be with Trunks. After all, he was much older than her and was known to be a big flirt with the ladies. Trunks proved her wrong though when she confessed to him, expecting an outright rejection and laugh from him. Instead, he had simply stopped her from running away and kissed her senseless. Her lips tingled at the memories of their first kiss. She smiled bringing her fingers up to her lips, brushing the tips against them.

"Pan?"

Pan dropped her hand, her gaze shifting over towards the groggy sounding voice besides her. "Did I wake you up?" she questioned as Trunks pushed himself up onto his elbows with a loud yawn. Trunks smiled and shook his head, placing a hand over the one that rested on her stomach. "No, don't worry. I just felt the little guy's ki shifting." Pan grinned, taking his hand in hers.

"He's going to be strong kid. I can tell." She laughed. It was an obvious fact to both of them. With his family being Saiyans, and some of the strongest fighters in the history of Earth, it was no surprise that the boy would grow up to be as strong as them. It was in his blood after all.

"No kidding." Trunks chuckled running his other hand through hair before glancing at the clock sitting on the night stand beside him. "It's late, Pan. Why don't we sleep? You have a date tomorrow over at Goten and Bra's." Pan grimaced smacking her forehead lightly with her palm. "I totally forgot about that. Bra would have massacred me I didn't show up." He smirked and nudged her down further on the pillow. "It's a good thing I reminded you, isn't it? I wouldn't want to have to look for another wife so soon."

Pan growled as he placed a teasing kiss on her cheek before settling down beside her. "Oh, shut up, Trunks. You know there's no way you could find yourself someone as magnificent as me." She stuck her tongue out him. He laughed and shook his head. "I know, I know. I was only teasing. Don't have a cow, Panny." Trunks grinned wrapping an arm around her, and pulled close. "Sleep, love."

Shivers went down her spine at the feeling of his warm breath brushing on her ear. "Alright … I love you Mr. Briefs."

"I love you, too, Mrs. Briefs …"

-x-

"Pan, you cheater!"

Pan raised her eyes casually as she watched uncle throw the deck of cards into the air and allowed them to drift onto the ground in a messy array. "Me? A cheater? Please, Uncle Goten. I don't need to cheat to beat you in cards. It's not my fault you can't play to save your life." She retorted, watching Goten's face redden in frustration.

He growled, pointing an accusing finger at the small girl. "Don't deny it, you rascal. I know perfectly well that you can't be that good at EVERY card game out there. That's impossible!"

She grinned shrugging her shoulders at him. "Hey, nothing is impossible, Uncle G. Trunks told me that when you two were teenagers that it would be impossible for you to find someone who would marry you, let alone date you. But look at you now! You've dated and you're married to Bra. There's nothing that is impossible." She teased and watched as his finger dropped and his eye twitched. Goten frowned making a note to himself to personally beat Trunks to a pulp the next time they went out for lunch. He watched as Pan grinned the signature Son family grin before she pushed out of the chair slowly and bent down cautiously to pick up the scattered cards on the ground. He sighed, pushing his hand through his hair in exasperation before following suit to clean up his mess. "I'll beat you next time." Pan smiled, gathering the cards neatly so that she wouldn't ruin the old looking cards that seemed ready to rip at any moment.

Trunks had dropped her off earlier that day on his way to work. She had spent the morning with the couple for breakfast, discussing old memories and new experiences in the past few months that they had not spoken to one another. Bra had left only few hours ago, having been called in to handle a situation that had gotten out of hand at work. That had left Pan and Goten to entertain themselves in a house that had more useless decorations, than things to do. Goten had suggested sparring one another outside to pass the time, but only received death threats from his pregnant niece at the ludicrous suggestion. He clearly remembered items being chucked at him along with several strings of curses and threats that he wouldn't want to remember again. Luckily he had discovered an old deck of cards in one of the kitchen drawers before they died of boredom. They played for hours, playing every card game they could think of from poker to solitaire. Pan won each and every round despite Goten's accusations of cheating.

Pan hissed slightly as a sharp pain came from her stomach. Her hand instantly shot up to the baby, her eyes wide with fright.

'Please tell me the baby's okay … Oh Kami, please!' she thought frantically. Her thoughts calmed themselves when the pain didn't come again. She used the chair to help raise herself up to standing. Her breathing was heavy, and she was perspiring from the simple action. Oh how she couldn't wait for the child to be born.

Pan smiled, setting the cards on the table while Goten wandered into the kitchen, muttering something about finding a snack or two. "Uncle Goten, I don't think B-" She stopped when she felt a wetness between her legs. This time she knew for sure as she felt another pain come to her. Her hands instantly went for the chair as she gripped it tight. She gasped out in pain waiting as the contraction ended as quickly as it came.

Goten stuck his head out of the kitchen and into the room. "You okay, Pan?" he raised an eyebrow as he saw the pained expression on her face. She looked up at his words and her lower lip trembled. "My water broke." She muttered softly, her hands going to her stomach. He frowned scratching the back of his head. "Come on, Pan. I know you're pregnant and all, but can't you keep yourself from spilling water on the carpet. Bra's going to be pissed." He grumbled. "I'll go get the paper towels."

A angry growl escaped her lips at her uncle's stupidity towards her words. "I didn't spill water, you dimwit!" She snapped. Gohan grimaced, his ears ringing from his sensitive hearing. It was one of the few downsides to being a Saiyan. "Okay, okay. No need to yell. Are pregnant women always this emotional?" he said more to himself than to her.

Pan narrowed her eyes as she appeared in front of him and grabbed him by the collar. "My. Water. Broke. I. Need. To go. To the. HOSPITAL!" She shouted, punctuating each word with a violent shake.

His eyes widened when her words finally got through, and his expression turned frantic. "Oh my Kami!" he peeled her hands off of him and looked around for the keys. "Let's get you to the hospital." His eyes caught a hold of the shining metal on the stand next to the door and helped Pan to exit the house. Within moments, he got her inside the car and was driving as quickly as he could towards the hospital.

-x-

Hours passed while Pan went into labor. Her shouts could be heard down the hall where Goten was attempting to get a hold of Trunks.

Almost the whole family was there in the waiting room, waiting eagerly for their new family member to arrive.

Bra and Bulma sat on the small love seat against the wall, conversing quietly amongst each other about how they would be spoiling the child as soon as he was born. Vegeta stood beside them, arms crossed over his chest. A smirk was tugging at his lips at the thoughts of training his grandson to fight. Perhaps the brat would surpass him and Goku if he trained him enough.

Chi Chi and Videl were tending to the pale looking Gohan. Apparently the shock of becoming a grandparent was still getting to him. From across the room, people could hear him muttering to himself hysterically about how his little girl was going to turn him into a grandparent.

Goten cursed under his breath as he was once again answered by Trunks' voicemail. "Why isn't he answering his damn phone?" he growled, punching in the number once more. Bra frowned, taking notice of her husband's stress, and walked over to comfort him. "Perhaps Trunks is in a meeting. He doesn't answer the phone there." He shrugged and snapped the phone shut when the voicemail came up for the tenth time within the past ten minutes.

"Screw the meeting, Bra. He's missing the birth of his own child." Goten rubbed his temple in aggravation. Sure, Trunks had been his best friend since they were babies, but his absence was starting to piss him off.

Bra frowned and squeezed his hand tightly. "Calm down, Goten … We both know that he wouldn't purposefully miss this moment. He's been so excited for this for weeks now." Sensing that he was starting to relax, she nudged him toward a seat with a smile. "I'll send him a text. Maybe he'll read it and come bursting in within minutes.

Goten nodded lightly, leaning back in the chair while rubbing his eyes. Bra grinned walking off around the corner typing quickly on her phone.

Moments after Bra's departure from the room, a doctor dressed in white walked in and headed towards the group. "Hello. I'm Doctor Shin, Pan's doctor." He introduced himself with a smile. "Which of you are her parents?" Gohan and Videl stood warily as they approached the man.

"How's our Pan doing? Is she okay? How's the baby? There are no complications are there?" Videl shot out questions quickly, her face evident with her worries for her daughter and grandson. Dr. Shin smiled and shook his head. "No Ms. Son. There are no complications what so ever. Your daughter and her son are perfectly healthy. Everything is going according to plan, however …" he paused looking around. "I don't seem to see her husband around." He sighed nervously.

Gohan raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Is there a problem with Trunks not being here?" He noted the worried look plastered all over the doctor's face.

"Well, you see now … You're daughter has been requesting, well rather the right word is demanding, that Mr. Briefs be here for the birth." Dr. Shin gulped as a loud shout and the screams of terror from the nurses could be heard from the room that housed Pan. "She's quite persistent."

Gohan frowned and looked to Videl before returning her attention to the doctor. "Let me be in there with her for now, doctor." He insisted. Videl furrowed her brows, and placed a hand on his arm.

"Gohan, let me go instead. She could use some womanly support." She urged with a smile. Her husband shot her a smile and shook her head. "Look, V. When you had Pan you nearly broke my hand and you're only human. Pan however has Saiyan blood in her so her grip is a hundred times stronger. She'd snap you like a twig." He chuckled and patted her hand. "I'll take Trunks' place for now. Just … get him here quick."

Videl smiled waving him away with a few words of good luck as Goten snickered in the seat beside her. "He's going to come out with more than a broken hand." He retorted with a wide grin.

-x-

Trunks sighed inwardly as the meeting drawled on to hours far beyond the intended time. For hours he listened to his associates and advisors argue amongst each other over the new budgets that would be introduced in the upcoming year, and what features of Capsule Corps had to be changed. They seemed oblivious to the fact that their president had been asleep for the first half of the meeting, and was now trying to balance a pencil on his nose while fiddling his thumbs.

"I say we cut the pay for the janitors. They get paid too much here anyways."

"Forget the janitors. Why don't we just fire all those assistants downstairs that sit on their butts all day drinking tea and giggling over magazines."

"No way! I say keep the assistants and give the boot to the file room employees."

Loud shouting and hands smacking against the hard wood of the table disrupted his attempts of distracting himself from the pointless conversation as the pencil fell to the ground with a soft clatter. His eyes narrowed slightly as he rubbed his temples in dismay. They only seemed to be getting louder and even angrier with one another, and it didn't help the fact that his ever growing headache was throbbing behind his skull.

"When will this ever end?" he groaned burying his face into the palms of his hands. Trunks let out a long and exasperated sigh as he reached into his pocket to grab his phone. It was already past dinner time, and Pan must have had Goten or Bra take her home, and boy would she be pissed at him right now. He flipped it open, eyes widening slightly at the mass amounts of missed calls from various members of his family as well as his best friend. "Does everybody need me today or something?" he grumbled and went to his message inbox to look at the several messages from Bra he had received. He scanned them, each one causing his jaw to drop closer to the ground.

'_Trunks! Where are you? Pan's gone into labor and Goten's been trying to reach you for the past hour.'_

'_Seriously, big brother. You need to get her fast. Pan's yelling up a storm over here.'_

'_TRUNKS VEGETA BRIEFS! I swear if you don't haul ass over here, I'll kill you myself. The doctor told Gohan and Videl that Pan's been wanting you in the room with her, so Gohan stepped in to replace you for the time being.'_

'_Aw crap. She broke Gohan's hand. Get your ass to the hospital. You better pray to Kami that Pan doesn't kill you when this is all through.'_

"Pan's gone into labor." He stood up quickly, knocking over several files and a few cups of coffee as he did. "You can take care of this." He narrowed his eyes towards his V.P. who shriveled back at the gaze. Several objections came from his advisors who attempted to persuade him from leaving but their pleas fell on deaf ears as Trunks slammed the door behind him. He ran down the hall glancing around to ensure that the coast was clear before bolting out the window. He shot towards the hospital, ripping off his tie with his hand as he did. "This isn't fast enough." He muttered and powered up to decrease the length of his flight.

-x-

Trunks entered the waiting room in a matter of minutes, looking around the room quickly at the people that were sitting there. His eyes were met with that of angry Bulma who looked ready to give him a serious spanking if he had only been eight.

"Trunks, where in the world have you been? We've been calling for you for ages now." She snapped. The blue haired woman bolted up and stormed over towards her son with a hand raised. Trunks gulped, backing up slightly from his approaching mother. A loud protest escaped his mother's mouth as Vegeta wrapped strong arms around her waist, keeping her from advancing on him.

"Vegeta, I demand you let go of me this instant!"

The Saiyan prince tightened his grip and sighed in annoyance. "Shut up, woman. This isn't the time for you to be punishing him for his tardiness. He has a child that needs to be brought into the world." His words seemed to soothe her seeing that Bulma relaxed and lowered the hand that had been prepared to smack anyone that was in her way. He looked to Trunks with a smirk. "Go to her, son."

Trunks sighed in relief and nodded. "Thank you, Father." He turned on his heels taking down the hallway. He narrowly missed Gohan who had just left the room nursing a broken hand. Gohan narrowed his eyes at the lavender haired boy before grabbing him with his available hand, and shook him roughly. "You get in there. Now."

A loud scream of agonizing pain came from the room followed by a string of curses and exclamations.

"OH WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM, HE'S DEAD!"

Trunks gulped.

"UGHHHHHH! HE'S NEVER GETTING IN THE SAME BED AS ME AGAIN. NEVER EVER!"

Trunks cursed slightly as he entered the room only to be stricken with a fear worse than we had fought with Buu and Baby. There before him was his furious wife who was crying and yelling at the same time. The moment she had set eyes on him, the nurses had to restrain her from jumping away and towards him.

"Trunks! I'm going to kill you! You did this to me!" Pan shrieked between pushes. He forced a smile as he walked over and his hand was snatched up by her smaller ones. A tight squeeze came and he held back the urge to shout from the pain. For someone of her size, she sure did have a solid grip. "Pan … You're crushing my hand." He muttered to her as she gave another push.

"Shut up!" she snapped. "You're never touching me again. You hear me?"

Trunks smiled and shook his head. "You don't mean that. It's the drugs talking." He chuckled but was stopped by another rough squeeze of the hand. "Okay, okay! I'll keep the jokes to a minimum. Just don't break my hand like you did your dad's."

Their conversation was broken when the nurse grinned and nodded towards her. "Just one more big push, Mrs. Briefs."

Pan nodded clenching her teeth as tears flowed and gave the final push. The sound of crying filled the room, and a small baby boy appeared in the doctor's arms. "Congratulations, you two. You have healthy baby boy."

The baby was placed into Pan's arms once he was cleaned and weighed. She smiled down at the boy that stared up at her with big blue eyes that resembled his father's. "He's so beautiful …" she whispered, wiping at the tears that slid down her cheeks as she watched her baby boy shift in her arms. Trunks smiled softly, sitting on the edge of the bed besides her. "He is … Just like his mother." Pan smiled pulling the baby closer to her carefully. "Why don't we call them in?"

Trunks nodded and left the room momentarily. Within minutes, the entire Son and Briefs family had entered the room staring at the pair and their newborn in awe. All the women in the room seemed to have tears in their eyes. Bra was gripping Goten's arm, squeezing tightly as she went on about becoming an aunt to a cute little baby. Chi Chi was fighting with Bulma over who got to hold the baby next, while Videl and Gohan approached the bed smiling proudly at their daughter and grandson.

"He looks a lot like his father." Videl smiled when Pan offered the baby to her. "He has your hair though."

Gohan chuckled looking down at the baby boy that stared back. "What's his name?"

Pan and Trunks exchanged looks with each other and smiled. "His name is Xander Vegeta Briefs. Trunks and I wanted to continue the Vegeta tradition." Pan explained. Her father smiled and nodded in approval. "I think that's an excellent name."

-x-

The family left an hour of cooing and awing over the small baby, leaving the new parents alone with their newborn son. Xander had fallen asleep in his mother's arms, with the two of them watching him closely. Trunks smiled, wrapping an arm around her as he held her close. "He's finally here." He chuckled. Pan nodded with a small smile. "No more waking up from his kicks."

"Yeah, we'll be waking up to his crying and dirty diapers now." He sighed running a hand through his hair. She nodded in agreement but the smile remained. "It'll be worth it though."

They sat in silence for a moment before Trunks took their child from her and placed him in the basinet besides the bed. He sat beside her, holding her close once again. "Sorry I was late, Panny … I got the message a bit later than intended." He paused, waiting for the wrath that would come, but it never did. Pan simply pecked him on the cheek as she looked up at him. "Forget it, Trunks … You're here now, and that's all that matters." She whispered.

A smile tugged at his lips before he captured hers with his. "I love you, you know that?"

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yup, and I love you." Her eyes shot towards the boy sleeping in the basinet and she smirked. "Maybe we should have another?"

Trunks recoiled slightly as he waved his hands in front of him. "No way, Pan. Not any time soon that is." He raised his left hand that still had a red imprint of where her hand had been while she was giving birth. "You nearly broke my hand."

Pan smirked and gave him another kiss. "Darn it. I'm willing to wait." She tilted his head down towards hers and kissed him. "Life starts now, Trunks."


End file.
